W C M
by Sakura Taichou
Summary: The question is not whether she belongs. The question is not whether she is capable. The question is: how far is she willing to go? A fem/Bilbo story.


Standard Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit. Bella Noir, however, is all mine (cackle).

Chapter One

Daring Do

She was Bella Noir the Wandering Heart.

'Baggins' in name, 'Took' in spirit, she was both the village beauty and local eccentric since childhood, always running around swinging her wooden sword or shooting arrows in her search for adventure. She grew up with stories heard at her mother's knee, a true example of all that was wild and free to be found in a Took, about elves and dragons and a whole wide world that existed outside of the Shire just waiting to be seen and lessons in how to hold a sword and how best to move in a fight. She was an apt pupil and she flourished in ways no hobbit lass before her ever had. Little Bella Noir was truly her mother's daughter and it showed, even after Belladonna's passing when all thought (and many hoped) she would put away such Tookish tendencies, in the way she traveled to the edges of the Shire to meet with Rangers and safeguarded the hobbits on the road with what she learned from the big folk. Bungo Baggins knew all of this -father sees all- and accepted; perhaps the only Baggins who had a small spark of what made his dear Belladonna so precious to him, he saw that burning like a pyre in Bella Noir and refused to temper it.

His warrior daughter who guarded their home with a sword and wore ribbons in her hair. He was proud of her to his dying day when he told her sternly to _never_ stop being who she was if she didn't want him coming back to tan her hide for forgetting. Tears and a brave smile and she said goodbye, seven years before she reached her majority, and became too early the Master of Bag End.

At twenty six she took over Bag End with what she learned from her father that she'd never had to use before; math and management and cold, hard logic. It was a complex mix that stood at odds with the way she grew up and for a few months she felt like she was drowning. Who lived in which smial, where the farm borders ended, where this investment went or why she should keep that one, did you see where the last bank statement went? Her saving grace was her parents, as they always had been, and their advice when she was feeling overwhelmed (may they rest with their ancestors in peace). Bella Noir took a step back from the work and vanished into the woods with a note on her door, 'No admittance! Stay out Lobelia!', and a word with the Gamgee's to keep an eye on the place.

..o0O0o..

_A week darting through tree branches, practicing how to spring farther and higher, rooting around under bushes for cover when hunting, reading from the few books she brought with her by fire light; Bella Noir gave herself over to the part of her life she had been neglecting in the months following her father's death trying to manage the Baggins estate. She was embarrassed that she had so easily forgotten her father's parting words. _

_ ~these fields needed tending..that hobbit was asking about No. 6 on Bagshot Row..Uncle Longo was talking about familial obligations..~_

_ No, she shook her head, not easily. It was a lot of work taking care of the estate and she was new to the headship, _Master Baggins_. _

_ "Or Mistress" she murmured to herself as she drifted in the water, floating on her back and basking in the peace of her surroundings, "of the largest holdings outside of grandfather Took's property, and quite possibly most likely to be driven to an early grave a la paperwork avalanche." She dunked her head when a dragon fly tried to land on her nose, scaring it off. She huffed a laugh on resurfacing, "Papa Bungo was more heroic than I thought, staving off the monster that is responsibility to defend his,"_

_ And a thought was realized. _

_ "Papa Bun, ack!" Jerking in an upright position Bella Noir forgot where she was and nearly choked on river water as she sank, sputtering and hacking when she righted herself and made for shore. Hitting silt with her feet she stood up, shaking her mass of sopping black curls out of her face. Her blue eyes were alight with her epiphany. "Papa Bungo had his own kingdom," she muttered. "His wit and mind were his tools, and he was Master of Bag End, rightful heir." An idea started spinning in her __mind, quickly becoming a mindset, "Just like me."_

_ It sounded silly, a hobbit with a kingdom. The absurdity! Hobbits were, after all, simple folk who loved the comforts of home and of fresh tilled earth; they had no need for fancy titles or grand treasures horded in massive castles. But to Bella Noir, daughter of Belladonna, this was an adventure of her own making. It was an ..odd, way of looking at things, but Bella Noir had always been odd and was often a stranger to what was considered 'proper'. This appealed to the Took in her that loved all things new and grand, reminded her of when she was tiny and pretended she was crowned 'King Noir of Shiredam', pinged against her father's order to never forget herself. _

_ She straitened up, standing tall in knee high water and dripping like a drowned cat but not caring in the slightest. She raised her fist into the air and struck a dramatic pose._

_ "I am Master of Bag End! I am the Head of the Family Baggins, and I will not be done in by responsibility!"_

..o0O0o..

And she wasn't. She became 'Master Baggins' to all, and 'Mistress Bella Noir' to friends alone, keeper of the family Baggins and she was good at it. With the help of lawyers and various members of the family she organized and worked hard until a great deal of the work was either completed or delegated out to more experienced employees. In the year following her taking control she made friends with and assigned 'regent' her cousin Drogo; thus robbing Otho of any power over the family he might have had as next in line.

Drogo was the one she left in charge whenever she left Bag End to adventure, confidant that he would always look after the best interest of their family as she would their people with her patrols. This partnership proved for the best as both the Shire prospered and Bella Noir retained her freedom and gained further wealth (though that was a side effect she didn't actually give any thought to).

Over the years she remained a sentry to Hobbiton, greeting Rangers with wide smiles and wolves with righteous fury. And while she may never have left on those adventures she dreamed about as a fauntling, Bella Noir still kept true to the wandering heart she was born with. She learned how to interact with her neighbors so they wouldn't look at her queerly, though Lobelia Bracegirdle was still a pretentious gossiping harpy and Longo Baggins was forever saying she should settle down with their Otho (ew), and all was well in the smial on the hill, Bag End.

Until a wizard wandered up to her property and blew it all to hell.

..o0O0o..

"_Papa Bungo! Look what Mama got me!'"The older hobbit sighed in exasperation as he turned a wry smile to his little girl racing toward him, raven curls dancing around her excited face. In her arms she carried a bow and quiver._

_ "My darling Beauty, must you call me by my name?" he asked for what felt like the millionth time, "it would make me so happy if you just called me Papa."_

_ He knew he had lost again when her little face scrunched up in confusion._

_ "But Papa Bungo's name is Bungo. Why wouldn't I use your name?" Oh, he knows Belladonna had something to do with this, he just couldn't prove it. "Besides, _Lobelia_," here her face scrunched for a decidedly less favorable reason, "says 'it isn't _proper _to use your father's name so stop it', and I won't do anything she tells me to."_

_ He sighed, kneeling to examine her new bow._

_ "So shall it be my Beauty" he agreed with her, smiling more honestly, "now show me what new mischief your mother has gifted you with this time."_

_..o0O0o.._

Bella Noir smiled at the memory as she set down her bow at the table, having just gotten back from running along the edges of her village. She had wanted to be sure the traps she had set up along the least safe routes were still undisturbed. Not that long ago she had caught a wolf that had managed to get through Rushock Bog when she just happened to swing by that way on a hunch and she decided to take precautions to prevent another similar case. Pits dug and marked by signs to warn hobbits of the danger and rope laid down to snag unsuspecting prey that was bigger than a rabbit, tricks learned from Rangers that never failed to come in handy. She was possibly the best hunter in the village.

Removing her gloves she set them beside her bow along with her quiver. This was followed by her knife and sword, both plain and nondescript. She'd ordered the sword from the smith who had only known the basics of the weapon so relied on what he knew of hunting knives to make the little sword she carried across the small of her back when she went out. The knife she kept strapped to her leg in a commissioned sheathe made of light brown leather that featured a simple flower pattern pressed into the material.

She made for an odd sight she would readily admit; her long tumble of curls caught the light like glistening blue/black ink down her back with blue and silver ribbons lacing through it artfully -a style she was taught by her mama- to frame a face lightly kissed by the sun with rosy cheeks and blushing lips, a small nose and dark blue eyes that one enchanted hobbit said looked like the night sky with stars in it (the courting didn't last, and he married an unusually shy Took from Whitwell), and she was soft and curved though slight for a hobbit, taking after the ranginess of a Took.

Loveliest lass in the Shire, absolutely, and she dressed like she couldn't decide if she were a girl or a boy. She wore a shortened version of a dress over well fitted breeches, and while the dress was just as pretty as a well to do hobbit lass was expected to wear it, embroidered with delicate flowers and curling vines and carefully arranged ribbons to lace up the front with loose three-quarter sleeves, it was made to be sturdier than one worn by a normal girl and kept at the waist with a leather belt that held her sword and a small pouch for necessities and its sleeves tucked into the leather gauntlets she wore paired with the archery gloves that covered only the pertinent fingers to prevent skin damage. Same with the breeches that were not loose but worn close to the skin and thick enough, tough enough, to withstand her lifestyle, the legs held shut with drawstrings, with her left leg also sporting a dagger, sheathed and strapped tight beneath her knee.

Bella Noir thought of the line of rabbits she had hanging by the front door that she would be fixing after she changed and heard her stomach rumble.

"Yes master," came her droll response, her feet leading her to her room, "lunch soon I swear."

Just as soon as she changed into something else.

..o0O0o..

_We pass across the lands_

_ Strangers young and old_

_ From homes and loving hands_

_ We do not feel the cold_

_ The horizon calls out our names_

_ We do not turn from the flames_

_ They burn like cold fire in our, _

_ in our,_

_ …_

"Sticklebats, I can never remember the next line" Bella Noir grumbled to herself as she finished gutting the last rabbit, laying the meat on top of the pile by her leg before wiping the knife on her apron. The modest pile of lean muscle shone a little in the brilliant sunlight, healthy flush of red on yellow square of wax paper. She'd brought down four sizable males that would serve in a lovely stew she had planned for later she was thinking of sharing with Gaffer when he swung by to tend the garden. He'd recently had his first child and she knew he and his wife would appreciate a meal that they didn't have to prepare on top of caring for a fauntling. Eyeing the separate piles of fur, innards, bones, and meat, she wondered. She'd have to dispose of the innards she wouldn't use; she thought of the dogs down the road and knew what she would be doing with them as soon as she tidied up with a grin on her face. She gathered the entrails up in a sack and wrapped the meat with wax paper for her cold cellar.

The sunlight was warm against her hair and shoulders as she left her home after removing her apron and storing away meat and fur, and Bella Noir set out to visit Farmer Maggot's boar hounds.

"Mistress Bella Noir!" Came a voice at up ahead and she saw Hamfast Gamgee coming round the corner, obviously on his way to tend to her garden. The blond haired, light blue eyed hobbit was in good spirit's as he waved at her with the hand not carrying his tools and she responded in kind. Hamfast was decked in comfortable brown pants of cotton and equally work friendly white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, ready to root around in the dirt to his contentment like always. "Good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon to you as well Hamfast," she grinned brightly, slowing to a stop, "how are you today? Is Hamson giving you any trouble?" The mention of his new son brought a certain brand of silliness to his joy.

"He is a gift Mistress Bella Noir," he responded happily, thoughts drifting to the bouncing bundle of joy currently at home with his wife, "all tiny limbs and his mother's auburn curls. I can't wait for you to meet him!"

She nodded readily though her brow crinkled in regret, "I am sorry I missed the birth and the following weeks though, I was checking Rushock Bog and," but Hamfast cut her off waving away her apology.

"Nonsense Mistress Bella Noir" his expression softened to something fond and grateful, "I appreciate what you do too much to ever hold it against you. Any who would are fools."

She acquiesced under his words, relieved; she switched topics.

"I will be making rabbit stew later and sending you home with some." She said with all the authority of a queen, though the imagery was ruined by the sparkle in her eyes, "Objections will be completely ignored."

Long used to this treatment he nonetheless tried to refuse but she asked about what he was planting today and he could only sigh and go along with her madness. Bella Noir had a way of getting away with things.

..o0O0o..

While Master Baggins was away from her smial making nice with the hounds and sneaking apples from their tree, a figure was making his winding way through the Shire on his way to pay a visit to the child of an old friend.

_"Ba bum dadum da dee dee"_

A felt gray curl could be seen over the tall grass coming up the hill, accompanied by the gentle rumble of an elderly voice singing nonsense words, and Hamfast looked up from the roses he had been tending to watch the curious gray curl lengthen to become a hat attached to a wizard. Being the only smial on The Hill, Hamfast knew the wizard was coming to see Bella Noir. He sat back on his heels to wait and wondered what he would say to the wizard. It was well known that this particular wizard hadn't been in the Shire since the Old Took's last party years back when Bella Noir was only a tiny fauntling chasing the boys through the thicket with a wooden sword and shouting about scoundrels in the kingdom. A tiny snort escaped him as Hamfast took a deep breath for the coming conversation; you never knew with wizards, he might have to talk fast to get out of getting cursed.

The tall form of Gandalf the Gray drew to a stop in from of the absent Bella Noir's smial, looking around for her before spotting Hamfast watching him over the new row of flowers, trowel in hand. The hobbit did nothing to hide the suspicion in his face. There was a moment of silence before Hamfast broke.

"Good morning" he said, mentally cursing his weak resolve. The wizard squinted his eyes, measuring the hobbit.

"What do you mean, 'good morning'?" Was the unlikely response, making the halfling blink, "do you mean to wish me a good morning or are you telling me it is a good morning whether I want it to be or not?" The wizard kept going, on a roll now. "Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning, or are you simply stating that this a morning to be good on?"

Hamfast's mouth opened and closed as he tried to say something, anything really, before the wizard lost patience. Luckily, a voice piped up from behind one of the shoulder high (for a hobbit) crate myrtle shrubs along with a dark haired head popping up to glare playfully at the wizard.

"Whether you want it or not, and I thank you to be nice to my gardener!" Bella Noir called to the wizard who turned to examine the lass coming out of hiding. In her skirt she carried a healthy amount of bright red apples along with a few mushrooms. She walked past him and through her gate to stand erect in front of her door, where Hamfast came over with an empty flower pot so she could unload her contraband. She craned her head back to meet the wizard's eyes.

Gandalf's eyes widened a bit as he looked at her.

"Bella Noir Baggins" he seemed to be at a bit of a loss though she couldn't imagine why, "you've certainly grown since I last saw you."

"Must have been a long time ago" she replied, still looking up. "I don't remember you. Are you here to sell buttons or something?" Hamfast looked horrified by her.

Gandalf looked insulted.

"Do I look like a peddler?" he asked hotly, drawing up to look even taller. He tapped the butt of his staff against the dirt pointedly. Bella Noir wasn't one to be outdone so she stepped smartly on the seat of the bench beside her door and deliberately stood as close to eye height with the huffy Gandalf. She planted her fists on her hips.

"You look like you have a sour temper." Her gardener was edging away with her apples in fear for his life but she didn't notice that. "Pray give your name sir, and we'll see if you are in fact an acquaintance of mine."

"Oh, you know me Mistress Baggins" he grumbled from under his hat, looking half scolding at her, "My name at least though obviously you don't remember I belong to it. I'm Gandalf" he informed her, "and Gandalf means" he seemed to lose his ire, blue eyes widened as if to say 'see?' "Me."

Dark brows drew down over eyes the color of the night sky and for a moment it seemed as if Bella Noir wasn't going to remember any such thing; then her expression cleared and she clapped in delight, mood changing just as swiftly as Gandalf's had.

"You made fireworks!" Her smile brightened her face. Gandalf looked troubled. "Old Took shot them off every new year! It was my favorite part!"

..o0O0o..

Gandalf was having second thoughts about his plan.

Belladonna Baggins nee Took had been one of his dear friends several years ago. A more adventurous and likeable hobbit he had not seen in decades and over the course of their friendship she had gone on many little adventures with him, well earning the moniker of 'Remarkable Belladonna'. When little Bella Noir came along he thought she would most certainly grow up to be just like her mother in temperament with a blending of her parents features to make a lovely little hobbit lass. She had charmed him as a child with her games of make believe which only solidified his belief that she would be just as much of a Took as her mother.

Looking at her now, he couldn't help but feel that, while her personality was indeed similar to her mother's, her _appearance_ was beyond what he could have predicted.

She was beautiful. Eye catchingly beautiful in a way he'd never seen a hobbit lass be. Bella Noir had delicate bone structure, high cheekbones gently flushed with health, a smile that inspired good humor in others, dark eyes that were framed by thick black lashes and a head of hair so black it flashed with blue. The swell of hips and bust and slender limbs only added to her appeal and that worried him greatly.

He thought of the places his scheme would take her, the towns of men, the elven domains; he looked at her, how small and feminine, clothed in a dress that emphasized how tiny she was, how unprepared she would be for a world with people who would think nothing of grabbing her to use and throw away. It was a concern he realized he should have considered before coming here, he thought with chagrin. Bella Noir was going to be in danger of things the others would not simply because of how she looked. What could he do now? Did he back off and find another hobbit? Perhaps one of her cousins? Or did he go through with his original plan? Could he handle the consequences of doing so?

..o0O0o..

"What brings you by Gandalf?" cut through the wizard's musing like a knife and he looked at the hobbit in front of him who was watching him curiously. She spoke again, unaware, "You haven't been through these parts since I was a fauntling. I can't imagine what could bring you back after so long."

"Ah" he intoned, gathering himself. "I came to see if you could help me with something." He said, sounding like the wise wizard he was reputed to be. He leveled her with an all knowing stare as he said, "I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."

..o0O0o..

"Hm."

..o0O0o..

…

..o0O0o..

The moment of silence pressed on. Bella Noir gazed at him, not saying a word. When a minute passed she hopped off the bench and made for the door, picking up the abandoned pot of apples as she went.

Gandalf didn't know what to make of it. He finally called after her, "well?"

"Is a source of water."

Bella Noir turned in her doorway, flashing another smile, this one laughing. Gave him a regal look over.

"I'll think about it."

_Click._

..o0O0o..

_That did not go the way I expected_, was the only thought that Gandalf had. He dithered for a moment, rolling his staff between his hands, then thought _sod it_ and carved a rune into the pure green of the smial's door before leaving. He needed to plot.

..o0O0o..

Nightfall

"Silly wizard, yes he was! Good gardeners are hard to come by! Yes, yes, yes!" Bella Noir nodded enthusiastically to her conversation partner; she threw out an arm like she was hold a staff and waved it imposingly, "'I am old as dirt and just as wise! I decree that friendly greetings are grounds for an unfriendly response!'" She shook her head, "'No, I don't care what you think! I'M the wizard here!'"

Her companion tilted her head to the left as if to ask, 'do what now?' Her tongue flicked out as she bared her teeth in a grin, 'steak now yes? Say yes.'

Bella Noir squealed, hugging the hound pup close as she made her way back to her home in the starlight. "You are just so cute!"

She was just returning once more from Farmer Maggot's -none the wiser about yesterday's 'visit'- where she shared dinner with him and his wife. She smiled like a loon; dinner had been centered around the mushrooms the farmer was known for. Mmm. Mushrooms. It was during the desert course that Mrs. Maggot had informed her that their oldest hound had had puppies just two months ago, a litter of six, and while they had managed to find homes for most of them, the admitted _runt_ of the litter was still in their care and they'd already chosen which ones they were keeping. Bella Noir asked to see the dog and once the table was cleared she was obliged.

She was small, but the Master Baggins expected that, black all over with a diamond of white on her chest and forehead and a little puffy fur wise. She was quiet, and after being held by Bella Noir for a bit to be loved on, she settled herself under Bella Noir's seat and fell asleep. The hobbit lass fell face first into love.

Thus she made her way home with an armful of loyal dog ('Remember to support the hind legs, dear,' Mrs. Maggot said, 'otherwise she'll be so tense she won't enjoy the ride home.') and chattering freely about how her day had went and about the wizard who came to call. She'd feigned looking for eavesdroppers before telling the dog she had seen Gandalf when he passed the tree she was in and, not recognizing him, followed him through the village until he started overwhelming Hamfast with his words.

"You'd think a wizard would have better manners" she finished the story, scratching the pup under the chin, and giggling when she got a lick on the cheek in return. She was rounding the corner of Bag Shot Row seeing the fence that wrapped around her property and movement near her door. "That's odd. Did Hamfast come back?"

But as she drew closer to her front gate she realized that it wasn't Hamfast at all. Not any hobbit either for that matter.

Assembled on her lawn and crowding across her bench and flowerbeds were four dwarrows talking amongst each other, two of them gesturing widely. It was too dark to make out much from their features but the sound of the gate opening drew all of their attentions. She cuddled her new hound as she addressed them.

"Hello. Is there a reason you're killing the begonias?"

..o0O0o..

The dwarrows stared as the female moved passed them. A natural gift of a dwarf happened to be superb night vision that enabled them to work successfully in the deepest, least lit tunnels, so while the female hobbit couldn't see their faces they had no trouble making out hers, and they were brought up short by the girl in front of them wearing a pretty dress of fine materials that fell to mid calf and hair falling thick and curly down her back, looking like a well to do lady cuddling a favorite pet; nothing like the burglar Gandalf promised. She stopped in front of her door, pausing with one hand on the handle and the other occupied with the canine in her arm, skepticism and irritation dappled across her pretty, pretty, face. She looked at a dwarf on the far left, brow drawing down to convey sharp displeasure and spine straitening with her chin coming up to display a high born sense of pride.

"Would you please get **off** of my flowers? Hamfast planted those just this morning." Her voice crackled with just enough ire to make the dwarf scramble closer to one of the others and making an effort at fluffing up the damaged plants, with more optimism than the lass appeared to have about their chances. The dwarf gave the plant a hopeful look when he got it upright again, but his face fell when a piece dropped off with a pathetic _snap! _The hobbit saw his shoulders droop almost the exact same time the branch broke and she gave a soft huff of humor. His head snapped up at the sound and he saw her face fighting off a smile, air of vexation faded. Rather encouraged by this, and being the happy fellow he was, he became spokesman for the group. A quick, no words necessary, look between him and his brother had them both before her.

"Fili" said the blond, his light hair catching the moonlight.

"And Kili" the brunette flower killer added, and together,

"At your service." They bowed as one, coming back up to smile widely at her. A flash of pearl white teeth in Kili's smile.

"You must be Mistress Boggins!" A clump of dirt smacked him in the face. "Gah!"

"Baggins, not Boggins, Mister Kili" the female said lightly, wiping the dirty hand on her skirts, her head tilting upward once more while Kili sputtered ("It's in my mouth! _I think there's _manure!") and wiped his face. She stood tall and proud, "Master Bella Noir Baggins of Bag End, Head of the Family Baggins; pleasure to meet you."

..o0O0o..

"Well met" one of the two dwarrows taking up residence on her bench smoothly cut in, sounding older than the others and she caught sight of a long white beard that curled at the ends into two seperate waves. The dwarf rose to stand before her just as the previous two had and bowed. "Balin. At your service." He turned to the last dwarf, who had followed behind him, and said, "this is my brother."

"Dwalin" came the deep voice of the tall male and she had the faintest impression of tattoos on his bald head, "at your service" who also dropped a bow without taking his eyes off her. _Like he's waiting for me to knife him or something_, was Bella Noir's sarcastic inner comment.

"Bella Noir Baggins, pleasure to meet you" Bella Noir returned, eying them all up and down and a few of them wondered what color her eyes were for they blended in well with the night, sparking with the reflected light of the stars. "Mister Balin, Mister Dwalin, Messrs. Fili & Kili; what brings you four to my door at this late hour? I confess I wasn't expecting company."

"You mean Gandalf didn't tell you?" Kili asked in surprise.

"Tell me what?" Ooh, sneaking suspicion, she had it.

"We were to all come here to gather the last member of our company and discuss the plan!" Kili filled her in happily. He was edging closer with Fili just behind him shadowing his movement; she could see his hands twitching with the urge to reach. Puzzled, she followed their line of sight. The dog she realized, and handed the pup to him silently to see what he would do. There was a happy noise. The two got even closer together and starting rubbing the pups ears and scratching it under the chin. She felt a crack in her stern facade. _Sticklebats that's adorable._

A thought dawned on her.

"How many of you are there?" She asked lightly to which, since Fili & Kili were currently absorbed in her puppy, Balin answered.

"That would be thirteen. The rest are behind us a little ways still I think. Should be here soon enough. We came in from Ered Luin."

"Really? That's a long trip." She said to the older dwarf. It was at this point that her manners reminded her of the only polite thing to do and she settled herself on a course of action, relaxing her shoulders so she didn't look quite so...testy. "Have you eaten?"

"Well," Balin looked almost embarrassed but he told her honestly, "no. Mister Gandalf said that there would be food when we arrived. However, seeing as how you had no idea we were coming, I feel it would be bad form to expect you to feed us all." He offered her a bow, "I am sorry that we have inconvenienced you Master Baggins, it was unintentionally done."

Bella Noir couldn't help but forgive them for showing up unannounced and trodding through her garden, just for that apology. Balin's civility did much to make her feel more confident about the offer she was about to make. Looking at Fili & Kili who were looking a little devastated but accepting of the notion of no food, she shook her head at Balin's words and opened the door to Bag End and sending it wide.

"Nonsense Mister Balin" she told him kindly,and the first smile of the night that she bestowed on them fixed on her lips, transforming her face from the cold civility and distant friendliness of a stranger they had originally been seeing into something warmer, kinder, and all the lovelier for it, "would you all care to join me for dinner? We can put something together for you and your incoming companions."

The light coming off Fili & Kili could put the sun to shame.

"Before you come in though," she snatched the dog back, friendly hostage to keep their attention, "clean your boots while I take care of the lights."

..o0O0o..

While the dwarrows were scraping all manner of crud off their soles, Bella Noir lit every light through the halls, parlour, kitchen, and dining room and releasing the pup to explore at her feet as she gave her dining room a critical look. Her smial was large, a grand gesture made with love from Bungo to Belladonna and financed by Belladonna who had loved him just as ardently, but was never intended to house so many people at once for dinner. Let alone dwarrows who were all at least half a foot taller than the tallest hobbit and stocky as tree trunks. Her dining room would not do for what was coming, she would have to think of something else.

"It's nice, this place" the voice of Kili called from the hall and she left the dining room to meet them in the Oak Hall. Kili spotted the dog and hunkered down to rub its belly, "did you do it yourself?"

"I inherited from my parents." she told him, seeing he had set his bow and quiver against the wall next to her mother's glory box. Fili came in behind his brother, swords in his arms and looking around in interest. Only half his attention was on her when he lifted the bundle and tossed them to her with a 'careful with these, I just had them sharpened'.

She stepped out of the way.

They crashed to the floor, drawing all eyes to her, and her eyebrow arched at him.

"Mister Fili! Throwing your blades around like an ugly vase, you should treat your weapons with more respect!"

Dwalin smacked Fili upside the head, scowling at blond.

"You weren't raised in a ditch, Mahal's beard! Would you do that to your mother?"

Bella Noir was surprised by the unexpected support and thought he had a natural scowl worth admiring, her lips quirking up as Fili apologized to her as he picked up his weapons to put them beside Kili's. Dwalin watched the young dwarf with stern eyes before turning to her. He jerked a bit, finding her standing closer than before and staring fixedly at him with intense concentration. _Mahal, I didn't even hear her move, _the dwarf thought_._

"Hmm" she hummed thoughtfully, giving him a hard look. The dark blue of her eyes was easily apparent from this distance and he compared them to some sapphires he'd seen in the Blue Mountain mines; dark blue, ringed almost in black, with just enough flare of pure color to make them fathomless. Bella Noir seemed to weigh him before she nodded to herself.

"You'll do."

Dwalin felt as though he had blinked and the world shifted in the span of that flutter of lash and lid, until he found himself helping Fili move the large dining table into a space the lass had called an 'Atrium', following the orders of said lass standing off to the side. Somehow the hound had found its way into a basket on a side table and was watching them work from there, tongue lolling out of its mouth and grinning.

Bella Noir had Balin fetching another smaller table from the parlour to extend the length of the first with Kili while she herself gathered ingredients in the kitchen for something to cook, though she was building a suspicion that anything she made wouldn't be enough for what was coming. This might just end up being a side dish to nosh on as a snack, seeing as it was quick enough to make and fairly delicious -if she may say so-. She set everything down on the counter next to her stove, vegetables, an egg, dried noodles, a modest slab of beef, and her favorite serrated kitchen knife.

A thought struck her and she left a pot of water to boil on the stove and she took down four mugs from the shelves and joined the dwarrows who were seated around the tables they'd set up.

"Thank you so much for your help," She said with gentle gratitude, handing out the cups, "you must be thirsty and it may be a bit before the others get here so" she turned, gesturing to two barrels of ale stacked in the corner, "please help yourself and relax. I will be in the kitchen if you need anything."

"Excellent!" Came from somewhere in the rush for drink and Bella Noir ducked out of the way before she could become an obstacle in their path.

Returning to her kitchen she picked up the knife and started cutting the vegetables and dropping the whole egg into the pot. She hummed under her breath while she worked, listening to the dwarrows conversing at the table, and thinking. _So far so good. Messrs. Fili & Kili, and Balin and Dwalin, are nice enough though I had to assert myself at their expense. _She thought about their behavior outside and Fili's thoughtless attempt to unload his weaponry on her, wondering if that could be indicative of dwarfish attitudes in general considering how they thought nothing of her flowerbeds until she pointedly brought it to their attention_. I'm going to need a way to keep some kind of authority. _The image of the four dwarrows scraping dirt and bits of her garden from their shoes on her walkway, awkwardly trying to avoid crushing anything while knocking into each other brought a grin to her face and an idea took shape until she was giggling into the onions.

A pan slid on the stove to grill strips of beef in while she fished the egg out of the pot and put the hardened oval in a covered bowl for when the noodles were done. Before she could turn the heat on for the frying pan a crash came from the Atrium that had her looking around. Someone rushed past the kitchen door and she almost went to check but a hurried, 'we didn't break anything!' from Kili had her turning back to her stove in relief, when a knock interrupted. Despite the plotting she had just been doing for dwarrows, she hoped it was the wizard at her door for he and Bella Noir were going to have _words_.

"Mister Balin! Mister Dwalin! Messrs. Fili & Kili!" All of their heads popped around the entryway making her grin. She did a quick check and determined that the water would be fine for a few minutes. "It appears we have guests.. Which of you would be so kind as to escort me to the door to greet them in a.. similar manner to how I greeted you?" The careful distribution of inflection over her words and the way her eyes looked at all of them with her eyebrows up in suggestion could not have been anything other than leading. They all looked a little surprised at her sudden change in temperament. It must have been the lopsided smirk.

She knew she had accomplices when Fili & Kili's eyes flickered and their mouths twisted into identical smirks of experienced devilment. Always quick to catch on, Balin was quick to laugh, but not quite quick enough to smother it; and Dwalin was taking a deep draw from his mug so she couldn't see what kind of expression he was making. Fili & Kili made a beeline for Bella Noir, taking up positions on either side of her, and she threaded her arms through theirs. A nod to the other kitchen exit had them moving out.

..o0O0o..

They made their way in a little procession to the front door, snickering when three of them had to move sideways through the archways, arms interlinked and the hobbit lass looking at ease with the two princes. Balin and Dwalin took up the rear and watched the way the hobbit lass had ingratiated herself with the Durin brothers with minimal effort, looking as friendly and good humored as they had originally believed hobbits to be until Master Baggins had given them that shocking first impression. She wasn't like the hobbit lassies they'd seen in passing on the way here, both brothers could agree on that. There wasn't any of that shy, worried, huddling behind male shoulders or careful backing away into hastily opened round doors. No, Master Baggins had walked right up to them and past them and stood guard at her door, showing more backbone than they'd seen so far in the Shire.

Watching as Kili tripped and Bella Noir hoisting him back up with a grunt and giggle, Dwalin, who knew the boys the longest out of him and Balin, thought to himself that it must be a novel experience for the brothers to have someone other than themselves to run around with. They had been the only children in their uncle's hall, for dwarf children were rare and for them to be born so close together was a blessing from Mahal, so they had only ever had each other. And while Fili was considered an adult now, he had not left the trappings of youth behind, and Kili wasn't yet of age and he wasn't making any attempt to mature.

This little hobbit lass didn't seem to care to act her age either, not all the time at any rate. Dwalin thought, as they gathered in the Entrance Hall and Bella Noir put her hand on the door handle after letting go of the brother's arms with dainty bows -making the brothers grin- and their group fanned out behind her like a entourage, that this is probably what it would have been like for them to have had friends.

"So boys," Bella Noir said before she opened the door, posture shifting back into that careful straitening of lines and manners, "let's make an impression."

..o0O0o..

In between touching the handle and opening the door, Bella Noir had time to wonder if the wizard would be out there or if it would just be another dwarf, and if she would harangue Gandalf now or later. Once the door cleared the latch however, she was more concerned with getting out of the way as eight dwarrows fell through the hole, landing in a large pile on her Entrance Hall floor. And there behind them was Gandalf, leaning over to peer through over the dwarrow pile into her smial with that old man benevolence in his eyes. He looked at her, obviously thinking all was well in the world, the cursing dwarrows sprawled across the ground not withstanding. Leaning back to present the guests already in her home to the wizard, Bella Noir's expression was all honey and sweetness as she said his name, her smile baring even, white teeth.

"Gandalf."


End file.
